Smooth Criminal
by Mystical Pen
Summary: As the sound of the canon faded away in the distance, and her screen focused on blank, green eyes, hazy with death, as the only boy she'd ever loved faded away from her forever, the thin string of sanity left in her snapped. When he fell, the sound of his body hitting the sand seemed like the toll in her own clock, signalling midnight, the end of her day, the end of her days.


Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games. Suzanne Collins owns the rights to them. So nope. You should not sue me.

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Smooth Criminal

An Odesta FanFic

By: Mystical Pen

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Loud, deep and booming, the canon sounded as if it was from hell. And somewhere, in a place surrounded by endless waters, wide and daunting for her, hell had really gone over ground for a certain girl.

She had never watched a single broadcast of these Games. Although it was illegal to evade the transmissions, she had managed to escape witnessing the nightmarish scenes behind the television screen through the years. But ever since he left, for the second time, even though it was torturous for her to watch numerous people trapped in a fake world have their lives seep away from them as red, thick strings of scarlet liquid, she endured it. When he left, without even being given the chance to say goodbye to her, she had vowed to herself that she would look after him. Even through the miles and miles between them now, the millions of waves separating their worlds, their physical bodies, she knew if she could just see his face, she'd know those miles were meaningless; she'd know their hearts and souls were still together. So even if it meant mental death, she watched the Games, she watched over him just so she could fight with him even in this little way.

But now, as the sound of the canon faded away in the distance, and her screen focused on blank, sea green eyes, hazy with death, cold and unfeeling, as the only boy she'd ever loved faded away from her forever, the thin string of sanity left in her snapped. When he fell in a lifeless heap, the sound of his unmoving body – with a sharp, shining blade buried deep in the centre of his chest – hitting the sand under the pink sky seemed like the toll in her own clock, signalling midnight, signalling the end of her own day, the end of her own days.

Sounds of agony and pained screams of two different females travelled from the television in front of her into her ears. But the raven-haired, sea green-eyed girl, who should have been making the loudest sounds of woe at the moment, remained speechless. Shock overcame her ever sense, numbing every part of her brain. And at the moment, all that echoed in her mind was that he was gone. But her heart, as stubborn as her lover, wouldn't accept what her mind was dictating. Her heart wouldn't understand the meaning of what she had just witnessed. But even so, her eyes, as green as the weeds under the ocean, started losing their hopeful light. And with just another tick of the clock, another shaky intake of short, seemingly counted, breath, her orbs had reflected the lack of life of the dead boy's orbs. His death also meant the loss of her life.

Her body started shaking, her skin pricked and her energy evaporated from her weak body as she started losing herself. This time, though, without him, she was bound to lose herself completely. Because as the waves of the fake ocean crashed on the shore of the spinning beach, washing away the pale sand tinged with the dark red of blood from the boy's body, the girl's sanity faded away from her forever. The meaning of her life had lost its importance after he'd lost his.

Her eyes, formerly bright green, with a haze of senselessness clouding it permanently, now held a dull emerald veil, never to brighten again, but to ever leaden instead. And even as her small, fragile body shook with uncontrolled tremors, she forced herself to her feet, staggering, losing her balance, falling to the floor without her only love, her soul mate, to catch her. And in her desperate search for a sanctuary in the empty cabin in the Victor's Island, her feet tying underneath her and pulling her down to fall twice every one try of standing up, she found herself leaning against the table of the kitchen.

The seams of the table creaked and cried as the quivers of her body shook it, creating loud noises that she didn't notice. But what she did notice was the single white cedar flower, tucked untouched inside a porcelain vase. And that single piece of ornament, lone piece of decoration, was enough to flick all the switches of her agony on. Because that single thing, lying alone in the middle of her table, wasn't just a simple decoration, wasn't just a simple ornament. It was a sign, a symbol of his promise to her.

'_I'm not going to die there, I promise.' _His voice, ever so smooth and soothing to her ears all this years sounded in the back of her mind, reminding her of their conversation that night of the Quell announcement. Somehow, even without the reaping yet, they both knew that he would be chosen. And that night, instantly, she had broken down, locked the door of her sanity and got lost in her own world again. And those words, stitched together in the fabric of a promise, were the words that had retrieved her from the dark depths of her madness. And the next day, he brought the white cedar flower to her saying, 'This flower, I was told it means _"Think of me. I live for thee." Think of it this way, as long as this flower lives and not wilt, I will continue to live for you.'_ And then he placed it in that precious vase.

At first, she thought he wasn't planning on keeping his promise, because the vase he'd put the flower he'd given her didn't have a single drop of water. And he'd told her not to water it, either. During the days they'd waited for the reaping to come, she never touched the symbolic flower, scared that it would wilt if she touched it. But even as days passed, the flower remained as beautiful and as white as it had first been when he gave it to her. And the day he left, the day of the reaping, she came home, running, tears in her eyes, and hugged the flower to her chest, her only connection left to him. And that was the first time she'd found out why it didn't wilt. It was a plastic flower. It would never wilt. And at that moment, she swore she had heard his voice in her mind saying, _"It will never wilt. I would never die. Because I live for you. We live for each other." _

Her mind, that had been numb and blank all this time, restarted, the cloud of shock and confusion clearing out all of a sudden, leaving a torturous, painful and agonizing veil of thoughts not only around her brain, but her heart as well. A loud shriek pierced the silence of the empty cabin followed by panicked sobs, and unintelligible murmurs. The girl's mind, after understanding what had just happened had finally unhinged completely. Her eyes grew even cloudier as the insanity took over. Lost in her own world, without her realizing what she was doing, one sweep of her hand had knocked the vase of the cedar off the table, flinging it across the room, hitting a wall and with a deafening shatter, broke into a million pieces just as the fragile girl fell on her knees.

The sound of glass hitting the wall as she sat on the floor stopped the murmurs from slipping from her agape mouth. Once again, the night had become silent as ever. But in her mind, the noises didn't stop. The shattering of the glass echoed again and again as if it was a broken tape. Her own mind was shouting thoughts at her. _He couldn't be dead. He's not dead. He couldn't die, _she kept thinking. But as the song of the shattered vase continued ringing in her ears, her eyes landed on the broken shards lying on the floor. And as unhinged as her mind was, her heart still understood. The promise had been broken, same as that vase. Even though she didn't want to accept it, he wouldn't be coming back. He was dead. Death had come for him. And during another repetition of the song of the broken vase, her heart broke with it, shattering into a million pieces, never to be put back again. And in her mind, as her eyes continued gazing at the nearest shard from her, the shattering sounded like Death breaking the window and coming for her too.

It was then that a thought hit her mind. It couldn't be determined if it was insane or not. But she found hope again. She found hope in death. Maybe death could reunite her with him. Maybe that was why she was coming for her, to bring them back together again, in a peaceful land, with no wars, with nothing to keep them apart anymore.

A single smile enlightened her pale face as her eyes landed on the flower. Without another word, she crawled for it, kissed the petals before tucking it behind her ear, the way he always did whenever he gave her a flower. Then her other hand went for the shard of glass nearest to her. The clinking once again triggering the repeated song in her ears. But this time, it wasn't a hopeless sound. The shattering of the glass meant that Death was going to come, to reunite them once again. And so without another thought, the sharp edge of the shard met with the tender flesh of her wrist.

The world seemed to stop moving, the sounds ceased to invade her ears. Varied thoughts stopped running through her mind. The only thought that she had in that moment was that soon, she would be reunited with him once more. Blood dripped. Consciousness started wavering. Heartbeat started slowing down.

She could have stayed there, on the floor, under the table, but she chose not to. Summoning the energy left in her, she stood up, the blood still dripping from her wrist, marking her path in the carpet with a bloody trail as she staggered into the bedroom, the place in the whole cabin that had always reminded her of him. It was the place she always stayed in with him, wrapped in his arms, feeling peaceful and safe, away from the world, and in the paradise that only the two of them could find in each other's presence.

She staggered, once again losing her balance, as she passed the door of her bedroom. Her knees threatened to fold under her and her eyes threatened to roll behind her lids, marking the fading of her consciousness, and her life. But she held on. She had to reach that place. She had to. She held onto the walls, her hand steadying her, and smearing her blood across the wallpapered barriers as she walked around the room, letting the memories created there take over her and numb the pain she was feeling. Only a few more moments now and they'd be together again.

It didn't take her a long time to reach the only window in the whole room, the window they both always looked out of. She closed her eyes, letting the memory take over her as her hands, covered in dark red, painted the panes with the essence of her life. And then she could feel it, she could feel everything; see everything behind her closed lids. The beauty of the ocean outside the window that always greeted the both of them every morning. The feeling of his strong arms around her small frame. The feeling of his breath hitting her earlobe as he whispered loving words in her ears. The sound of his voice every time he said, 'I love you.' And the loud sound of his and her fast heartbeat, blending together, growing louder every second they spent with each other, a crescendo, ringing in her ears. And with all those thoughts running through her mind, carrying her in a peaceful world full of thoughts about him, she fell down in the middle of the room, the carpet softening her fall into a dull thud.

She could feel her heart drumming against her chest, the beats slowing down and softening into gentle thuds. A smile travelled to her face once more, stretching the corners of her lips. Any moment now and they will be together. With that in mind, she slowly opened her eyes and when she did, she found her fetcher already there to take her.

"Annie, what did you do? Are you okay?" Finnick's figure hovered over her, his handsome, tanned face crumpled in worry as tears glistened in his eyes.

"I don't know what I did. But I'm okay, Finnick. I'm okay. Soon, we'll be together again." Her hand travelled to his cheek, her thumb caressing his cheekbone, wiping away the tears that had fallen from his eyes, but painting his cheek red with her blood. "Don't cry. You should be happy. We're going to be free."

His tears continued flowing from his eyes, the drops streaming down her hand, washing some of the redness coating her wrist. "But you don't have to die. You can live. You can be okay, Annie."

"Life is not okay without you, Finnick. I can't live without you. I have to be with you…"

Her hand hung in thin air, her fingers curled in the shape of her lover's cheek. She might have appeared to be alone, but in the eyes of her mind, the bottom of her heart, she was with the person she most wanted to be with. In her heart, she knew she wasn't dying. She was just about to live a life she deserved, a life she deserved with the man she loved. A life both of them had been fighting for, a life of freedom. Now, in death, they would both have their freedom.

Her heart slowed down, as the sphere of the stain of blood grew larger and larger. And with her soft and gentle voice, she whispered, "So wait for me. I'm coming and we'll be together 'til the end of eternity," before her hand dropped to her side, her eyes closing and her heart thudding its final beats. Finally, she had found her freedom with him. Now, they'd be free together.

So a second later, when the bang of the front door disrupted the peace of the cabin, and another Victor came in, he found not a deathly corpse of a broken damsel. Instead, he found a beautiful, smiling princess with a beautiful flower in her ear, caught in an enchanted sleep, dreaming of her prince and staying with him forever and ever.

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A/N: There we go. This is entitled Smooth Criminal because that song inspired this fic. So, I guess this can be considered as a songfic too. And who the Smooth Criminal is actually up to you. It can be Finnick, it can be Annie herself, it can be her insanity or the Reaper himself. You can also blame Snow if you want or that guy who killed Finnick because along with killing him, he killed Annie too. It all depends on how you interpret it so it's up to you.

No names were mentioned in the upper parts of this oneshot because it feels right for me at the time. :D I hope you don't mind that. And it adds mystery to it a bit. Oh, and this is my first The Hunger Games fic so take it easy on me. But anyway, thank you for reading. And if it's not that much of a bother, please click that cute button down there and review. :D THANKS!


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